Joe Willock netted a brace as Newcastle United staged a dramatic comeback to edge Birmingham City 3-2 in a thrilling FA Cup fourth-round clash at St Andrew’s.
Eddie Howe’s rotated squad capped off a memorable week with Willock’s late strike, just days after securing a place in the Carabao Cup final with a victory over Arsenal.
Willock had endured abuse on Instagram following Newcastle’s 2-1 home loss to Fulham last weekend. Howe praised the midfielder’s resilience, highlighting his ability to “let his football do the talking.”
Birmingham City, sitting atop League One, stunned their Premier League visitors just 40 seconds into the match.
Keshi Anderson cleverly peeled away at a corner and directed a header across goal, allowing Ethan Laird to smash home the opener.
Nick Pope kept Newcastle in the contest with a brilliant save to deny Anderson’s volley, before the visitors found a response.
Bailey Peacock-Farrell appeared to have pulled off a superb close-range stop from Willock’s effort, but with no goal-line technology at grounds below the Championship, the assistant referee confirmed the ball had crossed the line.
Moments later, Newcastle took the lead. William Osula missed a golden opportunity to score from two yards, accidentally flicking the ball backward for Callum Wilson, who pounced to poke it into the net. Making his first start since May 2024, Wilson spared Osula’s embarrassment.
Willock thought he had scored again, only for the goal to be ruled out for offside.
Birmingham’s Jay Stansfield then squandered a chance to equalize, heading wide from close range. However, they eventually pulled level in stunning fashion when Tatsuhiro Iwata unleashed a powerful strike into the top corner from the edge of the box, closing out a breathtaking first half.
The second half was less fluid as the game became scrappy. Birmingham’s Marc Leonard had to be stretchered off after a collision with Lewis Miley, while Newcastle’s Dan Burn also limped off with a groin injury.
Newcastle turned up the pressure late on, and their persistence paid off when Willock found the winner, calmly slotting the ball through Peacock-Farrell’s legs from a tight angle.
Speaking to the BBC after the game, Willock said, “I was just trying to give my best. It has not been an easy season for me, I’ve been waiting for my chance to push on and hopefully this is the start of the rest of my season.
“It’s very exciting times. It’s not an easy place to come to, but we want to thank the fans. Hopefully, we can go one better this time in the Carabao Cup [final] and far in this competition.”
Newcastle manager Eddie Howe praised Willock’s mental strength, “I think Joe has handled himself this week really well. His response to what he suffered (social media abuse) was really admirable, really strong-willed.
“He loves his football and I think he’s just concentrated on that this week and tried to put all other distractions behind him. He let his football do the talking.
“Really pleased for him because he’s such a talented lad. You want to see Joe at his best. It’s been a stop-start season for him, but today is a big moment, I think.”
Reflecting on the match and injuries, Howe said, “It was a tough game for us. Mentally, physically—you could see a few players were on the edge today. We’re delighted to get through.
“I thought it was going to be a difficult night before the game. [The early goal] made it doubly difficult because the atmosphere in the stadium totally changed. We managed to get a foothold and did really well. At half-time, it was about staying calm. I thought we did that a lot better in the second half.”
On injuries, “In the last couple of weeks we seem to have picked up a couple. It would be the last thing [we need] to derail us. We have such a small squad. Last season we had big numbers of players out, and it disrupted us in the middle of the season.
“We were forced to take Dan Burn off. It was something with his groin. Fingers crossed it’s not too bad.”
